British Television
British Television
Greetings Golfers,
Though television has a lot of channels … there’s not much that I want to watch. Lately, when I need to just zone-out and watch tv … I watch one of 3 shows from the mid-60’s:
The Avengers
The Prisoner
The Saint
They’re all variations on James Bond, and all are British shows. The Avengers and The Saint are pretty hilarious - especially The Avengers. But … The Prisoner is pretty serious.
The star of The Prisoner - Patrick McGoohan - was in an earlier Bond-type show - Danger Man. The world was obsessed with the Cold War and those spy shows were a big deal. Especially the James Bond movies.
I’ve always liked those British shows. And I like the British tv coverage of golf. It actually makes sense. They follow a featured group … and you get a real feel of the course and how it’s playing. They set-up every hole … and they talk about the strategy for the different players. The announcers have normal conversations with each other … and there are natural silences. It’s relaxed, insightful and enjoyable. Basically, the telecast has respect for the audience.
Respect. That was the main theme in The Prisoner. Though he was a Bond guy … he resigned … he believed the bad guys had taken over his government. But he wasn’t sure who it was - was it the Communists? He was kidnapped and put on an island … and called Number 6.
The theme of the show is the conflict between individualism and collectivism. Though these spy shows were about fighting the Cold War … was Communism infiltrating and taking over behind the scenes? Was the Prisoner correct?
One recent television show that I liked was “A Gentleman in Moscow” … I think I wrote about it a few months ago. Here is a quote from the book about the take-over of Communism:
“As best as the Count could determine, the Bolsheviks assembled whenever possible in whichever form for whatever reason. In a single week there might be committees, caucuses, colloquiums, congresses, and conventions variously coming together to establish codes, set courses of action, levy complaints, and generally clamor about the world’s oldest problems in its newest nomenclature.”
This is what we and the Brits were fighting against … this is what the Cold War was all about. Individualism vs. collectivism. Back then, Communist Russia banned golf - it was deemed too individualistic.
For me … The Prisoner still resonates … 60 years later. I love his speech of: “I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. I am a free man.”
We need shows with that message. And we need better golf coverage. It’s all about respect. We need less people telling us what to do … and talking to us like we’re idiots.
Cheers!
Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com